This invention relates to a chemical and treatment process for preserving wood and other porous materials.
The preservation of wood, wood fiber products and materials with porous surfaces against destruction caused by living organisms such as mold, mildew, fungus, termites, and other insects has been sought since the beginning of civilized time. Coatings, such as paint, are used to shield out the invasion of the organisms. With a xe2x80x9cbreakdownxe2x80x9d of the coating, the organisms can enter and violate the surfaces.
Solvent based penetrates have been effective in preserving wood, wood fiber products, and porous surface materials. The solvent based penetrates are environmentally unsafe due to the carrier solvent contamination and the toxic ingredients. As environmental awareness increased, the technology to treat wood, wood fiber products, and porous materials changed to water-soluble salt mixtures.
Aqueous salt compounds took over the preservative market in the treatment of wood and wood fiber products. Environmental studies in the past few years have proven that the present method of treatment with salts of heavy metals is leaching into the ground and water. As treated wood, wood fiber products and porous surfaces are wet with rain and other water sources; salts are soluabilized and leach to the surrounding environment. As the environment is contaminated, the treated surface is less protected to organism attack. The contamination of the environment is too widespread and of great risk. The potential for directly poisoning humans and animal life is serious.
Set forth below are several U.S. patents directed to wood preservative technology.
U.S. Patent Documents
U.S. Pat. No. 3,775,047 November, 1973 Weston 8/37
U.S. Pat. No. 3,985,921 October, 1976 Rowell et al 427/317I
U.S. Pat. No. 4,329,383 May, 1982 Joh 428/36
U.S. Pat. No. 4,780,341 October, 1988 Chow 427/440
U.S. Pat. No. 4,804,384 February, 1998 Rowell et al 8/181
U.S. Pat. No. 5,470,614 November, 1995 Chem et al 427/440
Coating the wood, wood fiber products and porous surfaces with paints, coatings, and repellants to shield the surface from moisture and organism attack is one type of acceptable treatment. The use of solvent and aqueous penetrating treatments use toxic substances to destroy any organism that attacks the treated surface. My invention offers a unique third method of treatment for the preservation of wood, wood fiber products, and porous surfaces. My invention changes the code of the surface. The treated surface is no longer recognized as a food source or habitat of living organisms. The treated surface is xe2x80x9cpassedxe2x80x9d over.
My invention provides biological and environmental safety in its"" use. This invention provides permanent treatment with resistance to leaching. My invention contains no pesticides, heavy metals, or toxic substances. This invention will efficiently treat wood, wood fiber products and porous surfaces by deception and camouflage. My invention replaces treatment by insecticidal and sporocidal salts.
This invention does not require any special application equipment. For general use my invention can be applied by brushing, wiping, spraying or dipping. As long as all surface areas are treated, the protection against organism attack is complete. For commercial use such as the case of wood and wood fiber products for construction materials, the invention can be applied by the pressure and pressure-vacuum extraction equipment, commonly used by the wood preservative industry today.
This invention provides a practical, economical, and sensible method of treating surfaces from damage caused by living organisms. My invention of a treatment for wood, wood fiber products, and porous surfaces has the potential to change the way construction materials are treated. This invention is a new practical concept offering a different approach to treating wood, wood fiber products, and porous surfaces
The present invention is directed to a treatment for wood, wood fiber products, and porous surfaces using periodic acid, iodic acid, or a combination thereof.
Insects and spores of mold, mildew, and fungus destroy billions of dollars of wood, wood fiber products, and materials with porous surfaces each year. The common method used by industry is treatment with water-soluble salts, which are solubalizing with moisture and leach toxins into our environment.
This invention provides a practical approach to treat wood, wood fiber products, and porous surfaces against the attack of living organisms, such as insects, mold, mildew, and fungus. Insects ingest wood and use wood, wood fiber products, and porous surfaces as protective habitat. Spores from mold, mildew, and fungus use the moist environment of wood, wood fiber surfaces, and porous surfaces as fertile grounds for spore growth. Whether by ingestion or habitat, the destruction by these organisms manifest the same costly result. The premise of this invention is based on the question, xe2x80x9cWhat attracts the organism to the surfaces as a source of food or a place of habitat?xe2x80x9d Termites are attracted to wood and products made of wood fiber. Spores find excellent growth habitat in porous surfaces such as masonry mediums, textile fabrics, and porous coatings such as latex. These destructive organisms are attracted to these surfaces.
My invention is based upon the premise that nature has assigned character codes to all matter. All living organisms within our world are constantly decoding the codes of nature. Termites eat wood. Termites do not eat carbon. Mold, mildew and fungus grow on wood and porous surfaces. Spores do not grow on gold. Humans eat potato chips. Humans do not eat plastic. This is the basic principle of code and decodes, which founded this invention. My invention creates a new code for the treated surface.
My invention of a treatment of wood, wood fiber products, and porous surfaces with periodic acid and iodic acid provides s safe, reasonable and economical method to deliver a soluablized element as a treatment of wood, wood fiber products, and porous surfaces. The periodic acid or iodic acid reacts to the surface chemistry and/or the environment to precipate an elemental iodine matrix in the surface structure. The living organism will not recognize the treated surface as food or habitat. The insect or spore will have no interest in the surface medium.
Since the periodic acid and iodic acid are aqueous solutions that are unstable with most all other chemistry, light and heat, the solution will always react and form elemental iodine. As the periodic acid and iodic acid break down in reaction, the hard insoluble iodine solidifies to conform to the surface structure in matrix, therefore giving the surface the character code of iodine.
Once the treatment obtains the state of the element iodine, the matrix is insoluble and as an element cannot be reacted any further. The matrix is set with no potential to leach by moisture. Any energy used to solubilize the matrix would destroy the medium treated. The treated wood, wood fiber product and porous surfaces are laced with an iodine matrix, which cannot leach. This matrix of insoluble iodine also provides moisture control of the surface structure. The porous surface will not take on moisture in the presence of the iodine element. The control of moisture provides a secondary means of organism protection as well as controlling the destruction of the surfaces by mechanical freeze/thaw cycles. The treatment of wood, wood fiber products, and porous surfaces preserves the surface from moisture damage.
This invention provides protection of the surfaces without harm to the environment, without leaching, and without the use of pesticides or heavy metal salts. The treatment is permanent.